


Your Best Kept Secret

by axolotlnerd-campcamp (axolotlNerd)



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Childhood Trauma, Dadvid Appreciation Week, Dadvid Appreciation Week 2018, Family, Gen, NOT MAX/VID, Vacation, wow thats a wonderful set of tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 14:38:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16389581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/axolotlNerd/pseuds/axolotlnerd-campcamp
Summary: It’s a cool and breezy October, and David is more than ready for a good weekend of camping in northern New York State. Max agrees to do it with a bit of persuasion, until he finds out the exact location they’ve decided to camp.





	Your Best Kept Secret

**Author's Note:**

> Before you start reading this, I'd suggest that you read another Dadvid story I wrote called _A Good Winter_. This story is meant to be an event that took place during the events of _A Good Winter_ , but you don't need to read it in order to enjoy this!
> 
> I hope that DAW is going wonderfully for you all!

Max was always quiet during car rides. He enjoyed watching the scenery pass by while listening to music, alternating playlists with David every thirty minutes or so. He read the road signs, watched the speed limit and flickered his gaze over to the speed gauge on the dashboard. He nodded his head along to the beat, and enjoyed the silence.

David didn’t mind it. He didn’t think much about Max’s taste in music, rock and hip-hop, even though it contrasted starkly to his own style. He could tell that Max was always just a bit on edge in the car, an anxiety he understood well from when he first started driving. David listened to the music the same way, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat.

He smiled through the whole drive. To him, this was a great adventure — it took a lot of persuasion and bit of compromise to get Max to go camping with him, and he felt that ever since he adopted the kid more than two months earlier they hadn’t found a real chance to bond. He had tried to connect to him through Max’s interests, but he was protective of the things he liked. This had to be some sort of middle ground, right?

Max wasn’t enthusiastic about it at all. He had been stuck camping with David for two and a half months, and wasn’t exactly wriggling with enthusiasm at the idea of spending more time in the woods. Even if it was a measly two nights.

But they had cut a deal, and it was an opportunity Max had to leap on, even if David didn’t quite understand it.

Max watched the trees drift by, listening to an indie song of David’s that he could never remember the name of. This part of New York state always had great scenery, especially around autumn. The whole world seemed to change color overnight.

“I’m gonna stop at a general store for some things before we get to the campgrounds, is there anything you want?” David asked, turning down the music a bit.

Max shrugged. “Just a snack. Stuff for s’mores.”

David nodded as he turned into the small parking lot of a cabin-looking store. “I’ll be right back!” He said and left the car, leaving Max to continue looking around the scenery with boredom. 

Wind weaved it’s way through the fiery leaves, whispering a warning about autumn’s arrival. The smell of campfire was carried by it, smoke of a sweet kind that made nostalgia stir in Max’s mind. It seemed familiar, looking around the fall forests and the log cabin selling firewood and other camping necessities. 

_ Hundred Mile General Store, _ Max read from the sign hung above the overhang above the porch.  _ Where have I heard that before? _

David opened the back door, putting an armful of firewood into the back seat and placing a paper bag on top of it. When he shut the door, the memory Max had been trying to summon clicked, and left him wide-eyed in the passenger’s seat.

“Hey, what’s the name of the campground we’re going to?” He asked quickly.

“Hundred Mile Campground!” David answered cheerily. “They also have a discovery center there, we should stop and check it out! They’ve got tons of information about the wildlife in the area, it’ll be a great learning opportunity.”

Max had already tuned out what David was saying, thinking too loudly to hear him. He knew this place, and now he desperately wanted to go home.  _ One night, _ he told himself.  _ It’s just one night. _

“Yeah.” He responded to David’s comment, putting his hands in his hoodie pockets. David got back into the front seat and started up the car, and as they left the parking lot of the general store, Max laid back in his seat.

_ This is gonna be a long weekend. _

 

When they got to their campsite, Max had been tasked with finding good kindling, something he was relatively glad to do. Dread had drilled a hole in his stomach, and it was only mile-away memories that would fill it. 

David had been very clear that he wanted Max to stay close and keep out of other campsites, but he wasn’t very worried about him. He had reassured himself that Max was very independent and smart, and knew that the kid would take any taste of freedom he was offered.

This did not feel like freedom to him, though. There was a familiar whisper on the air, and it pulled him deeper into the forest with every small tug.

He had collected a handful of small sticks for kindling, and was trying to find something bigger while exploring the campgrounds. Wind whistled through the trees again, carrying a scent Max couldn’t put his finger on.

It smelled like a feeling. It smelled the way the last lingerings of summer smelled, the way change moved through the forests. It smelled like laughter and goosebumps, like holding your stomach because of the new stitch in your side. It smelled like a heavy weight on Max’s shoulders, and he breathed the smell in the hopes it might lighten the load.

From somewhere not too far away, sometime not that long ago, he heard the sound of rippling water and kids laughing. A name, familiar on his tongue and just one out of a million in this forest.

His feet led him to the sound, distant splashing and silhouettes in his memory. The underbrush parted, a pathway leading him through the last breath of summer left in the wood. 

The laughter became louder, water moving heavily through the air.

“Hello?” He couldn’t be sure why he said it. Maybe something familiar would respond and lead him home.

He reached out, moving a branch out of his view.

The sounds stopped, leaving not even an echo to be carried by the trees.

Max had found a lake, with small shores of coarse sand and waters that didn’t even ripple. He looked around, trying to find something he couldn’t quite put a name on.

The sound of the empty and unmoving lake grew louder, emphasising it’s loneliness.

“Waste of my fuckin’ time,” he decided, and turned around, going back to picking up sticks.

 

The rest of the afternoon was normal, Max returning to the campsite and helping put sleeping bag and blankets into the tent. He and David started a fire as the sun began to go down, using the grill the campsite had to put a pot down and boil canned chicken noodle soup. It tasted like the smoke that came off the fire, burning in Max’s throat just a bit. He thought, just to himself, that that made it all the more special. At least it was better than Quartermaster’s meals back at camp, half food and half God-knows-what. 

After s’mores, David tried to pull out his guitar to sing a campfire song.

“You know what, I’m real tired. We should just go to bed instead.” Max said, the real meaning behind his words barely even veiled. Not that he had been trying very hard.

David laughed. “Okay, okay. Is there anything specific you want to do tomorrow?”

Max thought for a moment. “I saw a lake while I was looking for kindling. Maybe we could go swimming?” He said it more like a suggestion than a request, but David smiled. This was progress.

“That sounds great!” He beamed, and Max turned around and went into the tent.

But he didn’t fall asleep. He laid down in his sleeping bag, layered on extra blankets, did everything he could think of to fall asleep. He heard David come into the tent and pretended he was asleep until he heard his foster parent’s breaths even out, and then even longer, but the ghosts of his past haunted him still.

Every small sound kept him awake, made him think of something new. The ticking of David’s wristwatch in the corner of the tent, no louder than a mouse’s footstep, felt heavy in Max’s mind.

He moved, deciding to pick it up to look at the time.  _ 3:07. _

_ Great. _ Max thought.  _ Fucking fantastic. _

He sighed and thought for a moment, looking through the watch in his hands as he tried to formulate a plan.

Silently, he moved his blankets, pulling out the sleeping bag underneath. He looked at David as he made his way out of the tent, trying not to wake him.

The wind hummed through the night, cricket song accompanying their silent tune. David had put out almost every single ember, leaving just a few glowing spots of red alone in the fireplace.

The forest did not feel as silent as it did solitary. It felt like it was being left alone to it’s thoughts, and Max felt like he could understand how hat felt at the moment.

He laid his sleeping bag down, watching the shadows of the leaves as they bent to obey the wind. He watched the stars illuminate the night sky, light pollution non existent here and leaving an arm of the galaxy to reach across the sky, uninterrupted. He watched the world turn, and for a moment wondered if it was slowly leaving him behind.

A thought as solitary as the forest around him sunk in and slowly dissipated.

_ I miss my parents. _

 

The next thing he knew, he was staring wide eyed at gray sky, morning light shining in his eyes and making him squint. He could feel a mosquito bite his arm and he quickly smacked it, getting up from his spot on the ground. Dew frosted his curls, sparkling like gemstones in the dawn light.

He moved his sleeping bag back into the tent before David would ever notice he had been gone.

 

Max walked to the discovery center with David filled with dread. He wasn't interested in learning about “the local fauna” as David had said; he'd lived in New York state nearly his whole damned life.

But David promised that, after this and lunch, they could go swimming. And then they would finish this shitty camping trip and Max could finally get what he'd been waiting for.

The discovery center was in a log cabin connected to the ranger's station, lined with all sorts of bushes that, had it been spring and not a cool October, would be hundreds of different colors. Instead, the plants had started to wilt, most of the green having been sapped away by frosts in the deepest parts of night.

“Isn't this exciting?” David said, trying to get any positive response from Max.

“Sure, if you know jack shit about the place you've lived in for almost eleven years.” Max deadpanned. “Seriously, David. Weren't you raised right in Maine? Don't they have all the same shit over there?”

“Well, a lot of things, yeah.” David agreed. “But discovery centers aren't just about what animals and trees are around. They can tell you a whole lot about the history of the place they're built!”

Max rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Let's just go inside.”

The discovery center was nearly empty, only the ranger behind the counter inside. She held a book, and at the sound of the door opening, looked up. “Welcome to Hundred Mile Discovery Center.” She said with a small smile. “You guys camping this late in the season?”

David turned to talk to the woman while Max actively ignored both of them. He looked around the cabin, skimming over each plaque under display cases with animal bones or shedded snake skins. He had seen most of this before, and he was completely uninterested.

They had moved some things around, removed some displays and added some others. The history of Hundred Mile had been replaced with a replication of a fairly small dinosaur that looked fairly like a T-rex.

“That's a Grallator.” The woman said from her spot behind her desk. “People think that it might have inspired the story behind the Mosquito Monster.”

Max looked at her, confused.

“It's an old legend. No one really knows what it looks like, but they say it had a wingspan the size of three full-grown men. Could swallow a kid like you in an instant.” She had a small smile on her face, seeming to be glad to share the story.

Max wasn't interested. “Didn't there used to be a history panel here or something?” He asked.

The lady stopped smiling, and her eyebrows shot up. “Yeah, but that was replaced about four years ago. I thought that you guys hadn't been in here before?” She turned to David.

“I guess Max has been here before without me! What did that old panel say?”

Max shrugged. “I don't remember.” He said apathetically as he looked at the plastic dinosaur. “It was a long time ago.”

 

Lunch was grilled cheese sandwiches and fruit, and Max was quiet as he ate. David kept trying to start conversation, but every time he tried, Max would find a way to shut it down. He was too buried in his head to make real conversation, and decided it would be better if he didn't try to at all.

Eventually, David sighed. “So, you've been here before?”

Max shrugged. “Yeah.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Max stayed silent, taking another bite of his sandwich and staring into the fire.

“You just seem like you're bothered by something. I won't make you talk about it, but... I'm here.”

And still, Max didn't stay anything. Living with David had been so foreign to him, but in a mostly good way. He wasn't used to options being left up to him — all of his foster families made his decisions for him. Made him talk about things. Made him stay quiet about them.

“I was here with my parents.” He said, keeping his gaze on the fire. “Not Alice and Gregory. My  _ real _ parents.”

David stayed quiet, letting Max continue at his own pace.

“I was only four or five. I had an older brother, and a younger sister. We came in the spring, and it was my first time going camping. I don't remember much of it, just a couple little things. Dad gave me roasted marshmallows, and I threw one in the fire. And we all went swimming in that lake.”

David nodded, and the sound of the forest took over. The birds sang, and all the wind had nearly disappeared. 

“I had good parents. I don't know why they took us away.” Max admitted. “I miss them.”

David moved his chair to be closer to Max's and put a hand on his back. “I'm sorry.” He said quietly. “Is that why you wanted to go to that town?”

Max nodded. “Boonville, yeah. That's kinda where I grew up. We moved to the city a little while before everything. But I always wanted to go home.”

The wind picked up, kicking the leaves around the ground. David rubbed Max's back, and for the first time, he let himself be comforted by it. “We'll go there as soon as we’re done swimming. I promise.” David comforted. “And… Thank you for telling me. I don't want to pressure you into letting me help you, so it means a lot when you share it with me.”

Max didn't smile, or show any sign that he appreciated what David was saying. He felt better, though, and straightened up his stance as he ate the last bite of his sandwich. “Whatever. I'm gonna change into my swimming suit, tell me when you're ready to go.”

David laughed a bit as Max walked over to the tent. 

“And thank you, too.” Max finished, then went into the tent.

 

The water had never felt so good.


End file.
